Reflection Updates

Here is my attempt to justify my absence from the digital realm of my Blog. I've been doing a lot of off line work, specifically reading, A Whole New Mind, by Daniel Pink, and also Design of Everyday Things. I've also been pretty engulfed with working on my #894, and preparing to graduate in May. I started making some post on my Wiki, but did not transfer them over to my Blog. In some cases, I didn't even post my reflections to either site. Sometimes, its very difficult for me to stay dialed into a computer to communicate on a daily basis. When I initially started putting this Blog together, I tried to connect with all of my classmates, but the only reply I got was from Joshua. At that point, I read and posted my reflections, without any interaction with anyone. Eventually, I hope to develop a more consistent routine to keep me up to date with the present social networking trend.

Reflection to Connecting the Dots

Last week, I missed class, because I was out of town. When I return, I was assigned to a group with Brian, Christina, and myself. Our assignment was for us to create a video for the article, Connecting the Dots: Literacy in the 21st Century. As a group, we worked, fairly well, together to put together a pretty good video. The one dilemma which we were faced with was someone erased 1/2 of the first version of the movie we had started creating. Initially, that was pretty upsetting, but we got it together in time to present to the class. The presentation went well, and I was pretty satisfied with the final product. The main thing I realized after that was that saving your work on the computers in BH 170 could be detrimental, if you don't make a backup copy, before you leave.

Reflections for previous assignments

Connecting the Dots Video on YouTube
Created by Barry Dow, Brian Rodriques, and Christina Antos



Five Frame Story on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/

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Powerpoint Summary of Chapter #5 - Story | A Whole New Mind -Daniel Pink

Created by: Barry Dow, Brian Rodriques, Christina Antos for ITEC #830

Link to presentation on Google Docs - Story
http://docs.google.com/Presentation?docid=dgvn5pg_2fr9xwqht&hl=en

Learning in te 21st Century | Free Mind Map

Reflection: ITEC 830 on March 4, 2008 - Elluminate

I used Elluminate for the class tonight. It was a good resource to have, since I was out of town, but unfortunately, I lost the connection after the second presentation, and was unable to reconnect with the class. The main problem I had was being frustrated by not being able to communicate my ideas, or interact with the group as a whole. If the moderator was not able to see my request to interject or ask a question, the presentors continued to present without my input. I believe that we should be able to have a back up phone bank or website to refer back to in case we are disconnected. I did try to contact a few students who I noticed were active on iLearn, but I got no replies to my emails. Anyway, I did figure out how to work the microphone.

Reflection: Learning for the 21st Century

As the world grows increasingly complex, success and prosperity will be linked to people’s ability to think, act, adapt and commincate creatively. Today’s education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn.
Technology may give schools the ability to bridge the achievement gap and the digital divide. The No Child Left Behind Actof 2001, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, emphasizes student achievement and requires assessmenr in core subjects, which are the foundation for learning. Accelerating technological change, rapidly accumulating knowledge, increasing global competition and rising work force capabilities around the world make 21st century skills essential.

Students will spend their adult lives in a multitasking, multifaceted, technology-driven diverse, vibrant world. In the 21sst century, literacy has been redefined as more than basic reading, writing and computing skills. Economic, technological, international, demographic, and political forces have transformed the way people work and live. Because these changes and the rate of change will continue to accelerate, the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.

Current 21st century tools include computers, networking and other technologies, plus audio, video, and other media and multimedia tools. These tools enable people to perform effectively at work and in their daily lives. In the business world, employees are required to make business decisions, work productively in teams and communicate directly with customers. Employers value candidates who can acquire new knowledge, learn new technologies, rapidly process information, make decisions and communicate in a global and diverse society. Education in the digital age must utilize ICT literacy, which requires good leadership, a strong technology infrastructure, adequate and equitable access to technology and the Internet in schools. That prepares students for learning in this complex, digital society.

Reflection to ITEC 830 | February 26, 2008

In class tonight, Dr. Foreman introduce the class to Net.newsvibe, a social text company on the business end. Dr. Foreman will be sending our class a link to one of her collegues from the business sector on Netvibe.
Aaron Boyd, a former ITEC 830 student who has taught Economics in South San Francisco for 8 years, described how he implemented Web 2.0 technologies in an Economic curriculum. He used Dreamwever to created his website, created videos w/ Snapz Pro and iMovie, had the students form Blogs and Wikis in which they were able to collaborate on projects in on-line forums and stock market simulation games. Mr. Boyd used Google Docs, an on-line open-sorce which enabled the students to create Word documents, Spreadsheets, and Powerpoint presentations.
The Superintendent of his school district has contacted him about implementing a similar curriculum in their district.
Next, in class tonight, we discussed the criteria for our final project, an instructional piece that takes at least one hour. It should include information and activities that will help people process the skill. I believe it can be either Web instruction, in-class instruction, or a workshop to teach a specific skill.
After the break, Dr. Foreman introduced the clas to Flock a social web browser which organizes all RSS and webdites on your Home page. We also talked about Facebook and Googledoc.

Kirk did a good presentation on Tagging.

Class was over at 6:30 for the GAP workshop.